King parade bomber given a 32-year prison sentence

by Nicholas K. Geranios - Dec. 20, 2011 10:51 PMAssociated Press

SPOKANE, Wash. - A man who admitted to planting a bomb along a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade route was sentenced Tuesday to 32 years in prison, the maximum punishment as negotiated under a plea deal that he tried to withdraw and then later denounced.

"I am not guilty of the acts that I am accused of and that I plead guilty to," Kevin Harpham said just before U.S. District Court Judge Justin Quackenbush handed down the sentence. He only agreed to the deal in September to avoid a possible life sentence, Harpham said.

The statement prompted the judge to impose the higher end of the possible prison sentence, which was negotiated in the plea bargain as between 27 and 32 years. "I am distressed that you appear not the least bit apologetic," Quackenbush said.

Harpham, who has extensive ties to White supremacists, blamed the judge for not giving his defense team enough time. The 37-year-old said he did not intend to injure people with the bomb he placed in downtown Spokane prior to the January parade.

Rather, he intended for the shrapnel to hit the side of a building as a show of protest against the multiculturalism celebrated by the parade, he said.

"I was making a statement that there are people out there who don't agree with these ideas," Harpham said.

The judge said he was perplexed because Harpham was honorably discharged from the Army and had no criminal record.

Just before his client was scheduled to be sentenced, Harpham's lawyer tried unsuccessfully to withdraw the guilty plea by noting that a newly hired defense expert questioned whether the explosive device in question met the legal definition of a bomb.

Harpham said he intended to seek an appeal, which he has 14 days to file.

Federal officials have said Harpham acted alone.

The pipe bomb was loaded with lead fishing weights coated in rat poison, which can inhibit blood clotting in wounds, officials have said. The bomb was discovered and disabled before it could explode.

The parade on Jan. 17 drew a crowd of about 2,000 on a cold winter morning. It was forced onto an alternative route after the bomb was found.

Harpham walked in the parade and took pictures of young Black children and of a Jewish man who was wearing a yarmulke, prosecutors have said.